Ellenabad, December 31
The Indian National Lok Dal today alleged that official machinery had been misused by the ruling party in an election rally addressed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and others here yesterday.

However, the Congress has refuted the charge and alleged that INLD leaders are in the habit of speaking white lies.

Talking to mediapersons during his campaign in Ellenabad town today, Abhey Singh Chautala, who is in all likelihood to be named the INLD candidate tomorrow for the January 20 byelection, alleged that government officials were made to attend yesterday’s rally to please Hooda.

“The rally organisers ferried schoolteachers and other government officials from Hisar, Fatehabad and Sirsa districts to Ellenabad, when they learnt that few people were coming to attend the rally,” alleged Abhey Singh and demanded action against the organisers.

He claimed that the INLD’s rally on January 2, to be held on the same venue, would make the situation clear and people would come to know who stood where in this bypoll.

Ridiculing the allegations of the INLD, the Congress has reacted sharply.

While Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee spokesperson Ved Parkash Vidrohi said former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his sons were in the habit of speaking plain lies, Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar advised him to approach the Election Commission if he stood by his allegation.

“Abhey Singh can get the footage from the media and approach the Election Commission,” said Tanwar and alleged that he was making these allegations because the INLD was frustrated after the success of the rally and the response Congress candidate Bharat Singh Beniwal was getting from the people.

“The result of the byelection will be announced on January 23, which is not very far now and everyone will come to know where the INLD stands,” said Vidrohi reacting to Abhey Singh’s allegations.

He alleged that there was nothing new in the Chautalas speaking plain lies to befool the people but people had understood their ways and had given a befitting reply to them in the 2004 parliamentary elections, the 2005 Assembly elections, the 2009 parliamentary elections and again in the 2009 Assembly poll.

Meanwhile, both the INLD as well as the Congress have intensified their campaign.

Ellenabad, December 31
As you drive down to this sleepy town from the district headquarters in Sirsa, a 42-km-long stretch of potholed road greets you.

The road is so bad and uneven that you cannot complete the journey without painful jerks in your spine.

Besides, the road has over a dozen speed breakers.

Sharing a border with Rajasthan, Ellenabad, it appears has remained neglected in the matter of development.

“The potable water we get contains over 1,000 to 1,100 total dissolved solids (TDS), which is more than double of the permissible limits,” said Jasbir Singh, a trader in the Ellenabad grain market.

Residents complain that their demand of a degree college has fallen on deaf ears of those in power for long.

“Girls suffer the most as boys can further their studies by going to towns like Sirsa, but conservative parents of girls make their daughters drop out after schooling due to lack of college education in the town,” says Rajinder Nath, a local resident.

“We were hoping that the government would announce the opening of a college due to the impending byelection. However, we were disappointed when the Chief Minister accepted the demand with a rider that he would lay the foundation stone of the college after the victory of his candidate,” he added.

Listing absence of basic services, residents said there were no adequate healthcare facilities and transport services in the town.

Therefore, it is not without reason that both the Congress as well as the Indian National Lok Dal have so far raised “lack of development of Ellenabad” as their major issue and have been castigating each other by shifting the onus.

“The Hooda government is biased against Sirsa district. The government does not see beyond Rohtak, when it comes to development activities,” is a common catchphrase in the speeches of former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala and his sons - Ajay Singh and Abhey Singh.

The Congress, on the other hand, has been pointing an accusing finger on the INLD for lack of development of Ellenabad and have been maintaining that parties led by the Devi Lal clan represented the constituency on six out of seven occasions since 1977 but did not care for its development.

“Chautalas have always exploited you and never thought of development when they remained in power. Even when you elected Om Prakash Chautala by a margin of over 16,000 votes, he insulted your mandate by opting for Uchana Kalan, the other seat he won by a small margin,” is what all Congress leaders are alleging, including Hooda, who has so far addressed two public rallies in the town in the past one month.

Sirsa, December 31
As 2010 knocks at our doors and people are busy wishing a happy and prosperous New Year to their friends and relatives, a handwritten New Year card by former Indian-American astronaut Kalpana Chawla, who perished in the skies on February 1, 2003, in the space shuttle Columbia while returning to the earth, is worth reading.

The greeting card was sent by Kalpana Chawla to her friend Ritu, when she was pursuing the the bachelors degree in engineering in Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh.

The card is now a precious belonging of Kalpana’s father Banarasi Lal Chawla, whom Ritu handed over it after the astronaut’s untimely demise.

Chawla mailed a copy of this card to The Tribune, while wishing his greetings for 2010.

However, the message written by Kalpana Chawla to Ritu in her own hand is relevant even today not for Ritu alone but for whole generation of “Kalpanas”, who are rearing to fly and carve a niche for them in the year that starts tomorrow.

“Dive deep down, an aim awaits. Pearls peep for your hands to reach. Just yours for years, decades and ages, a door lies locked, a pearl in the shell, a secret in the brain. Open it, break it, reveal it. Fly high. Wishing you strength, energy and stamina - Kalpana,” is the message of the astronaut, who has now become an icon for many young girls across the globe.

On the outer side of the handwritten greeting, Kalpana writes “Towards the Goal”, while the inner side carries the whole message written in verse form.

Sending his New Year greetings along with Kalpana Chawla’s handwritten card, Banarsi Lal Chawla said, “The start of a New Year is always a time of renewal and hope. So, it is my New Year’s hope that 2010 may bring us the opportunity to see you again and share stories, laughs, Kalpana’s memories, her values and beliefs, her concerns for nature and the underprivileged in education.”

Rohtak, December 31
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today called upon the workers of cooperative sugar mills in the state to work hard and make mills self-dependent.

Sugar mill workers, who will show good performance, will be paid a bonus equivalent to 45 days of their salary.

He said this while addressing workers and officials at the inauguration of the new complex of Haryana Cooperative Sugar Mill at Bhali Anandpur village here today.

The mill started its crushing period from today which got late due to a delay in its setting up and availability of low production of sugarcane crop this season.

Hooda said the new complex, which had been constructed at a cost of Rs 180 crore with modern techniques, would generate 16 MW of power besides producing export quality sugar.

Eleven out of 16 MW of power would be given to the grid and the rest would be utilised in providing 24-hour electricity to nearby areas, he said.

Describing it as a gift to the people of the region on the New Year eve, the Chief Minister said the government had plans to produce 100 MW electricity in cooperative sugar mills at an investment of Rs 500 crore. This would not only cater to the need of sugar mills, but would also ease the power situation in the state.

The sugarcane crushing capacity of the new complex would be 35-40,000 tonnes per day, which would be more than double of its earlier capacity of 18,000 tonnes.

Referring to the problem of outstanding payments to farmers by the sugar mills, Hooda said the arrears of about 10 years amounting to Rs 470 crore had been converted into share capital and a loan of Rs 200 crore was given for payment to the farmers.

The government has reduced interest rate on seasonal crop loans from 11 per cent to 4 per cent for those farmers who pay back their loans in time.

Referring to the demand of farmers regarding loading and unloading charges, the Chief Minister announced that henceforth 75 per cent of the charges on the account would be paid by the sugar mills.

He also asked the sugar mills to improve the functioning of their distilleries so that they become profitable and contribute to the income.

The Chief Minister honoured farmers with shawl, who supplied a large quantity of sugarcane to the cooperative sugar mills.

Jhajjar, December 31
The 17-day-old death case of forest ranger Sanjeev Tomar took a new turn today when the deceased’s father, Rampal Tomar, a Rohtak-based advocate, not only raised question marks over the functioning of the investigative officials, but also demanded withdrawal of the investigation of the case from the Jhajjar police.

He also levelled serious allegations against the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Jhajjar, of defending the culprits.

In his letter to V Kamaraja, Inspector General of Police (IGP), Rohtak range, Tomar has said his son has not committed suicide by hanging himself, but he has been murdered in a pre-planned manner. He said all circumstances proved that Sanjeev was killed, while the police was treating it as a “suicide” case.

Sanjeev’s body was found lying on the floor in a room used for stacking dried cow-dung cakes and fodder in his official house located in forest complex here on December 14. The police also recovered a suicide note from the spot.

Sanjeev’s father said his son was murdered around 9:30 am on the fateful day. Thereafter, two persons were seen going out from the house on his son’s motorcycle by some other forest employees who were present near a tea vend adjacent to the house.

Subsequently, the employees also saw a woman, who had been residing with Sanjeev in his house, along with two other persons, coming out from the house and going in a car bearing registration number of Gohana, said Tomar in the letter.

He added that though the DSP rushed to the spot, he did not make serious efforts to inform the Gohana police to round up the car or to send the Jhajjar police to Gohana to bring the persons back to Jhajjar for interrogation as to why they had visited the house.

Tomar urged the IGP to investigate the case thoroughly to bring out the real facts of the case after withdrawing it from the Jhajjar police.

Meanwhile, Kamaraja assured the deceased’s father that the case would be transferred to some other police official and it would be probed properly.

The Jhajjar police maintains that the exact cause of Sanjeev’s death will be known after they receive viscera and chemical reports from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL).

Prime facie, it seemed to be a suicide case, but the police was also exploring other possibilities of some foul play, said Mohammad Hussain, SHO of the city police station.

Kaithal, December 31
Shamsher Singh Surjewala, president of the All-India Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress, said here today that if required he was ready to depose and assist the court in connection with the legal proceedings against former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore in the Ruchika case.

Addressing a press conference here, he said Rathore should get stringent punishment and a case should be registered against all those officials who connived with the accused DGP directly or indirectly in the case.

Surjewala said when he was Irrigation and Power Minister of Haryana in 1991-92, Rathore was posted as Director, vigilance, in the erstwhile HSEB. During that period, Ruchika harassment case became public. Anand Parkash, father of Aradhna, Ruchika’s friend, accompanied by Dr Naresh Mittal and some residents of Panchkula, met him and told them about the Ruchika case and asked him to raise his voice against injustice. The deputation also brought to his notice that Rathore was misusing his powers and had started harassing them by getting their shops and residential premises raided by power board officials and heavy fine worth lakhs had been imposed on them.

Surjewala alleged that Om Prakash Chautala, who had been denying role in the case, actually had recommended Rathore for President’s Medal.

Gurgaon, December 31
Property dealers operating without valid licences beware! The district administration has decided to impose a fine of Rs 50,000 on such individual dealers and Rs 1 lakh in case of a society or a company engaged in the job.

This was stated by Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria after reviewing the registration of property dealers in the district.

In a statement issued here today, he said all real-estate developers and builders were duty-bound to deal with only registered and licensed property dealers.

There is a provision of heavy fine on the property dealers dealing without a valid licence from the competent authority under Section 17(2) of the Haryana Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants Act, 2008.

Kataria directed the SDMs, Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars concerned to conduct videography and photography of all property dealers in the district. After the completion of this survey, those found operating without the requisite licence would be served show-cause notices and fined if found guilty. He asked the officials to submit their reports by next week.

The Deputy Commissioner appealed to the residents to buy and sell property only through registered property dealers. He also directed the licensed property dealers to display the signage board bearing their registered licence number in their office at all times.

Kataria maintained that serving government or public sector undertaking employees were not eligible to apply for the licence under the Act.

“The licence holder shall get only 1 per cent commission on the agreed consideration value paid by the seller and purchaser of the property; that is 0.5 per cent by each of them on the finalisation of the deal,” he said, adding that in case of a deal of lease or rent of immovable property, the rate of commission to be paid by both parties would be equal to one month’s rent of the property.

Sonepat, December 31
Farmers are reportedly facing a shortage of urea in many parts of the district.

Farmers of the Gohana region submitted a memorandum to the SDM, Gohana, GL Yadav, yesterday for ensuring the supply of urea to them.

They alleged that they had to wait for the whole day at offices of cooperative societies for urea and return home empty-handed.

Farmers have threatened to take to the streets if they did not get timely supply of the fertiliser.

State vice-president of the All-India Kisan Sabha Shradha Nand Solanki also urged the administration to ensure the timely supply of urea to the farmers.

Devender Singh, technical assistant in the Agriculture Department office here, however, claimed that there was no shortage of urea in the district.

“The problem is that many farmers store the fertiliser for the whole rabi season, whereas the supply is received on the basis of monthly requirement,” he said.

He said, “We have received a supply of 2,637 tonnes of urea today and another supply of 2,000 tonnes is expected within three days.”

Against the estimated requirement of 54,200 tonnes for the rabi season, the district had already received around 34,000 tonnes of the fertiliser so far, he added.

Chandigarh, December 31
The Haryana Dairy Development Cooperative Federation has given a New Year gift to milk producers in the state by increasing the milk procurement rate by Rs 20 per kg of fat with effect from tomorrow. However, there will be no change in the selling price of pasteurised milk to consumers.

Paramvir Singh, Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Minister, said here today that for average fat of 6.5 per cent, the increase in rate would be Rs 1.34 per kg.

With this increase, the milk procurement rates would be the highest in the northern region and the federation would have to pay an additional amount of approximately Rs 2.80 crore per month for the milk procured.

The additional financial burden on account of the increase in the milk procurement price would be borne by the federation and its affiliated milk unions in the state.